Here's how you should play the flop if you have garbage. Let's say that you got a free flop from the big blind with 72 offsuit. You should fold on most flops (if someone bets). Here are some flops that might look nice, but you should fold if someone bets:
[6s 6h 2d]: You have two pair, but anyone with a 6 in his hand beats you. 33 beats you. Even Q2 will often beat you on the river because of the kicker. You will probably split the pot with 32 on the river, because your kicker will probably not play. This is an easy fold.
[9s 7h 3d]: Anyone with a 9 beats you. Even 76 will beat you on the river a decent amount of the time. Fold.
[7h 6d 3c]: You have top pair, but someone can easily have an overpair or top pair, better kicker. If someone has overcards or a draw, he can hit on the turn or river. Fold unless the bet is very small (if it's less than pot size, you might call. Unless you hit another 7 or a 2 you should probably fold on the turn anyway. You might also lose even if you make two pair or trips).
[8d 6c 5c]: You might make a straight on the turn, but your opponents has to be very bad to pay you off with worse hands, because it will be obvious that you can easily have the straight. There are some bad opponents at play money, but don't call unless the bet is very small (less than pot size). If the turn or river is a club, your straight might be beat by a flush. There is a chance that someone will make the nut straight against your straight, too. In both of these last scenarios, you might lose a lot of money. I would call a much bigger bet with T7 on this flop, because I would be drawing to the nut straight, and might win a lot from someone with 72, A7 or some other bad straight if a 9 comes on the turn or river.
The conclusion is that if you get involved with a garbage hand, you should normally fold on the flop unless you flop two pair, trips, full house, quads or a draw to the nuts (total garbage like 72 can't ever flop a draw to the nuts except a 7-high, 8-high or 9-high straight flush draw. Combined with the possibility of losing a big pot because of kicker trouble when you make trips or getting small two pair against bigger two pair, this is why you shouldn't really involve yourself in a pot with garbage unless you get a free flop.
torsdag 26. april 2007
weak calling hands
You could try a strategy where you call with every hand if noone has raised, but I don't recommend that if you want to win as much play money as possible. You might want to do it to practice playing on the flop with weak starting hands.
Here's a pretty loose pre-flop limping strategy. You should probably play a bit tighter. If players frequently raise preflop at your table, you should definitely play tighter:
Call with any suited cards except T6, 95, 84, 73, 62 and worse (smaller kickers with your highest card).
Call with any offsuit hand except Q8, J8, T7, 96, 85, 74, 63, 52 and worse.
I don't like 4-gappers, but I might limp with offsuited three-gappers from the button or small blind if I think I'll get a cheap flop. Let's just use the mentioned limping strategy now.
If you want to play a lot of flops, try to find a table where there's not very much raising. You can use this strategy at that table. At a table with a lot of raising, you should fold anything that isn't
1) a pair
2) suited connector or Ax suited or
3) two high cards (ten or higher).
Here's a pretty loose pre-flop limping strategy. You should probably play a bit tighter. If players frequently raise preflop at your table, you should definitely play tighter:
Call with any suited cards except T6, 95, 84, 73, 62 and worse (smaller kickers with your highest card).
Call with any offsuit hand except Q8, J8, T7, 96, 85, 74, 63, 52 and worse.
I don't like 4-gappers, but I might limp with offsuited three-gappers from the button or small blind if I think I'll get a cheap flop. Let's just use the mentioned limping strategy now.
If you want to play a lot of flops, try to find a table where there's not very much raising. You can use this strategy at that table. At a table with a lot of raising, you should fold anything that isn't
1) a pair
2) suited connector or Ax suited or
3) two high cards (ten or higher).
Solid calling hands
I would seldom call off more than 20 % of my stack preflop with a hand that's not good enough to call an all-in with. If the raise was only 5-20 %, there are a few additional hands that I might call with. Keep in mind that it doesn't make sense to call with the hands that I mention here if there's a maniac that will often go all-in after you've called (unless you have a good enough hand to call that all-in).
10-20% of stack: I might call with AJ, AT, KQ, 77 and 66.
5-10% of stack: I'd probably call with any pocket pair
3-5% of stack: I'd probably call with suited connectors(98, 87, 32 and similar) and two-gappers (T8, 97, 42 and similar) and Ax suited.
I have to mention that the object of calling with small pocket pairs or suited connectors is to win a lot when you get a good flop. If most of the others players that have involved themselves (especially the player(s) that raised) are almost all-in themselves, it's not a good idea to call off much of your stack with those hands.
10-20% of stack: I might call with AJ, AT, KQ, 77 and 66.
5-10% of stack: I'd probably call with any pocket pair
3-5% of stack: I'd probably call with suited connectors(98, 87, 32 and similar) and two-gappers (T8, 97, 42 and similar) and Ax suited.
I have to mention that the object of calling with small pocket pairs or suited connectors is to win a lot when you get a good flop. If most of the others players that have involved themselves (especially the player(s) that raised) are almost all-in themselves, it's not a good idea to call off much of your stack with those hands.
Committed hands
There are some hands that you don't necessarily want to get all-in with preflop, but that are too good to fold. If you don't want to push with some of the hands I mentioned in the last post, you should still normally call a push.
Optional pushing hands: TT, AQ, (99, 88, AJ, AT, KQ)
You should normally call an all-in with pocket pairs above 99, AK and AQ. In certain situations, you might consider folding pocket pairs smaller than TT, AJ, AT and KQ.
I seldom fold 99 or AQ preflop. If an opponent that seldom raises has raised and I have to put in all or most of my chips to call, I usually fold AJ, AT, KQ and possibly 88.
Optional hands to commit with against maniacs: Any pocket pair, Ax (x is a card below ten), KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT.
Be careful about commiting all your chips preflop with these hands. You should only do it if the person that moved all-in is a maniac (raising with at least half of the hands he gets dealt). It's also important to remember that even if the maniac has a worse hand than you, someone else might have a better one. If you're pretty sure that noone else will call (normally only if everyone else folded), you should normally call with most of the mentioned hands. Consider folding JT, 44, A3 and some slightly better hands if you're in a situation where you don't want to risk losing your entire stack. If you're in a good game and have built up a nice stack, you might even fold some hands like 66, A8 or KT.
If there are several people that will likely call the maniac, small pocket pairs will not be good enough to call. There will probably be several overcards that you have to avoid, so just fold 44 and smaller pairs in that situation. Consider calling with 55 and 66 against the maniac and one other caller. 88 and 77 might be good enough to call even against three or more opponents.
I'd probably fold all the other mentioned hands against the maniac and one caller, but I'm guessing that some of them might be marginally profitable. Perhaps hands like A9, A8 and KJ might be profitable. It helps if the hand is suited so Ax suited, KT suited and QJ suited might be good enough to call with too.
Optional pushing hands: TT, AQ, (99, 88, AJ, AT, KQ)
You should normally call an all-in with pocket pairs above 99, AK and AQ. In certain situations, you might consider folding pocket pairs smaller than TT, AJ, AT and KQ.
I seldom fold 99 or AQ preflop. If an opponent that seldom raises has raised and I have to put in all or most of my chips to call, I usually fold AJ, AT, KQ and possibly 88.
Optional hands to commit with against maniacs: Any pocket pair, Ax (x is a card below ten), KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT.
Be careful about commiting all your chips preflop with these hands. You should only do it if the person that moved all-in is a maniac (raising with at least half of the hands he gets dealt). It's also important to remember that even if the maniac has a worse hand than you, someone else might have a better one. If you're pretty sure that noone else will call (normally only if everyone else folded), you should normally call with most of the mentioned hands. Consider folding JT, 44, A3 and some slightly better hands if you're in a situation where you don't want to risk losing your entire stack. If you're in a good game and have built up a nice stack, you might even fold some hands like 66, A8 or KT.
If there are several people that will likely call the maniac, small pocket pairs will not be good enough to call. There will probably be several overcards that you have to avoid, so just fold 44 and smaller pairs in that situation. Consider calling with 55 and 66 against the maniac and one other caller. 88 and 77 might be good enough to call even against three or more opponents.
I'd probably fold all the other mentioned hands against the maniac and one caller, but I'm guessing that some of them might be marginally profitable. Perhaps hands like A9, A8 and KJ might be profitable. It helps if the hand is suited so Ax suited, KT suited and QJ suited might be good enough to call with too.
Hand selection (Pushing hands)
Many players at play money tables play most hands they get dealt. They often call big raises with bad hands. Because of this, it's easy to succeed in most play money games. I'm going to teach you a different approach. There might be some approaches that are more profitable, but this approach will probably make you a winning player (if you're not already winning).
There are certain hands that you should be willing to go all-in with pre-flop. I'm going to divide them into two categories.
Pushing hands: These hands are so good that you would happily put all your chips into the pot pre-flop. There are three hands that definitely qualify as pushing-hands: AA, KK and QQ. I'm pretty sure that I've never folded any of these hands preflop at a play money table. There are some situations where you can fold QQ or even KK preflop, but they're extremely rare at play money tables. Don't even consider it (at play money) unless you're a very good poker player and knows your opponent very well.
I'm going to give you two "safe" ways to play these hands:
1) Go directly all-in no matter what. You will probably get called by someone anyway. It's pretty common that you get multiple callers. If that's not common at your table, you should probably change to another table.
2) Raise when the action gets to you. Be sure to get at least 10 % of your stack into the pot preflop. You should normally get the rest in on the flop unless an overcard flops. The only time you should ever consider to call is with AA when you will get at least half of your remaining chips into the pot by calling and you want more players to get involved in the pot. It's often better to go all-in in that situation, so be sure that you want the extra players in the pot before you smooth call with AA.
Here are two other ways to play "pushing hands", that I don't recommend if you want to win much play money (build a bankroll) as easily as possible. These plays might be better if your goal is to practice for real money games though.
3) Raise a small amount when the action gets to you. If nobody else has raised, raise approximately 5-10 times the big blind. If someone else has raised, reraise to about 3-5 times the amount you have to pay to call. This is a little different from how I'd play these hands in a real money game, but I just came up with those numbers to make things easy.
4) This option should only be used if you're almost certain that someone else will raise if you just call. The method is to smooth call. You expect someone else to raise, so you can reraise a pretty big amount when the action gets back to you. This is a risky play, because someone might get a cheap flop with a bad hand and beat you (if noone raises behind you).
I normally prefer method 2 because I like to get a little flop play, but I think method 1 is also a great way to win play money with pushing hands. Methods 3 and 4 are best suited for advanced players that know what they're doing.
I normally treat JJ and AK as Pushing hands too. If you want to get all-in preflop relatively often, you can use TT, 99, 88, AQ, AJ, AT and KQ as pushing hands. I normally prefer seeing flops with these hands, but it's probably profitable to go all-in preflop with them as well. AJ, AT and KQ might be too weak if some tight opponents (opponents that play much less than half of the hands they get dealt) are getting involved in the hand, though. If I have to put in more than 30 % of my stack to call, I usually push instead of calling with TT, 99, 88 and AQ. I normally fold AJ, AT and KQ to big raises, but at certain tables it might be better to go all-in with those hands too.
Summary: You should want to get all-in preflop with pushing hands, but you might decide to not push directly. I advice that you use one of the two methods I mentioned (pushing or raising a big amount) unless you're a very good player and has a good reason not to do so.
Main pushing hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK
Optional/situational pushing hands: TT, 99, 88, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ
There are certain hands that you should be willing to go all-in with pre-flop. I'm going to divide them into two categories.
Pushing hands: These hands are so good that you would happily put all your chips into the pot pre-flop. There are three hands that definitely qualify as pushing-hands: AA, KK and QQ. I'm pretty sure that I've never folded any of these hands preflop at a play money table. There are some situations where you can fold QQ or even KK preflop, but they're extremely rare at play money tables. Don't even consider it (at play money) unless you're a very good poker player and knows your opponent very well.
I'm going to give you two "safe" ways to play these hands:
1) Go directly all-in no matter what. You will probably get called by someone anyway. It's pretty common that you get multiple callers. If that's not common at your table, you should probably change to another table.
2) Raise when the action gets to you. Be sure to get at least 10 % of your stack into the pot preflop. You should normally get the rest in on the flop unless an overcard flops. The only time you should ever consider to call is with AA when you will get at least half of your remaining chips into the pot by calling and you want more players to get involved in the pot. It's often better to go all-in in that situation, so be sure that you want the extra players in the pot before you smooth call with AA.
Here are two other ways to play "pushing hands", that I don't recommend if you want to win much play money (build a bankroll) as easily as possible. These plays might be better if your goal is to practice for real money games though.
3) Raise a small amount when the action gets to you. If nobody else has raised, raise approximately 5-10 times the big blind. If someone else has raised, reraise to about 3-5 times the amount you have to pay to call. This is a little different from how I'd play these hands in a real money game, but I just came up with those numbers to make things easy.
4) This option should only be used if you're almost certain that someone else will raise if you just call. The method is to smooth call. You expect someone else to raise, so you can reraise a pretty big amount when the action gets back to you. This is a risky play, because someone might get a cheap flop with a bad hand and beat you (if noone raises behind you).
I normally prefer method 2 because I like to get a little flop play, but I think method 1 is also a great way to win play money with pushing hands. Methods 3 and 4 are best suited for advanced players that know what they're doing.
I normally treat JJ and AK as Pushing hands too. If you want to get all-in preflop relatively often, you can use TT, 99, 88, AQ, AJ, AT and KQ as pushing hands. I normally prefer seeing flops with these hands, but it's probably profitable to go all-in preflop with them as well. AJ, AT and KQ might be too weak if some tight opponents (opponents that play much less than half of the hands they get dealt) are getting involved in the hand, though. If I have to put in more than 30 % of my stack to call, I usually push instead of calling with TT, 99, 88 and AQ. I normally fold AJ, AT and KQ to big raises, but at certain tables it might be better to go all-in with those hands too.
Summary: You should want to get all-in preflop with pushing hands, but you might decide to not push directly. I advice that you use one of the two methods I mentioned (pushing or raising a big amount) unless you're a very good player and has a good reason not to do so.
Main pushing hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK
Optional/situational pushing hands: TT, 99, 88, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ
torsdag 19. april 2007
Getting started
If you haven't got a poker client, you have to download this from a poker site. Here are the sites I've tried myself:
Empire Poker
PokerRoom
PokerStars
All these are big sites with plenty of players. I'll review these three sites later. If you want to play somewhere else, you can just search for "poker" at google or whatever search engine you prefer. There are plenty of sites you can play at.
The process of downloading and installing the poker software should be quite straightforward. Once you've installed the client, you'll probably be prompted to make an account. When you have done that, you should be ready to play. There are plenty of different tables you can sit at and tournaments to play. I'm going to focus on ring games. I'll give you advice about NL(no limit) texas hold'em. If you don't know the rules, look for them at the site that you downloaded the client from. The next thing you should do is to select a table that you want to play at. I'm going to write about this in another post later.
Empire Poker
PokerRoom
PokerStars
All these are big sites with plenty of players. I'll review these three sites later. If you want to play somewhere else, you can just search for "poker" at google or whatever search engine you prefer. There are plenty of sites you can play at.
The process of downloading and installing the poker software should be quite straightforward. Once you've installed the client, you'll probably be prompted to make an account. When you have done that, you should be ready to play. There are plenty of different tables you can sit at and tournaments to play. I'm going to focus on ring games. I'll give you advice about NL(no limit) texas hold'em. If you don't know the rules, look for them at the site that you downloaded the client from. The next thing you should do is to select a table that you want to play at. I'm going to write about this in another post later.
Introduction
Here's my first play money post. If you're interested in playing poker without risking your real money, this blog might give you some useful advice.
All the poker sites I've seen on the internet give you the option to play at play money tables. The play money tables are a good place to start out if you haven't played much poker before. You usually get about $1 000 in play money when you start an account. Unless you know that you can beat real money games, it's a good idea to see if you can beat the play money games first.
Once you're able to beat the play money games, you can start thinking about depositing real money. The players at the smallest stakes of real money should play a little better than most play money players. I'll give you a little advice about bankroll management later. If you don't manage the money you've deposited properly, you might end up losing all of it.
The poker sites want you to play with real money. I think that one of their main reasons for hosting play money games is to recruit players to play for real money. Some sites will try to convince you that you should deposit real money at once. If you don't want to play with real money just yet, you can usually ignore this.
One time I got an account at a site, and a support guy started telling about all the offers they had if I deposited real cash there. I just told him that I was there for the play money, and he quickly lost the interest and left me alone. If you decide that you want to deposit money later, the support team will probably be eager to assist you anyway.
In the next couple of articles I will give you some strategy that should make you a winning player in most play money games.
All the poker sites I've seen on the internet give you the option to play at play money tables. The play money tables are a good place to start out if you haven't played much poker before. You usually get about $1 000 in play money when you start an account. Unless you know that you can beat real money games, it's a good idea to see if you can beat the play money games first.
Once you're able to beat the play money games, you can start thinking about depositing real money. The players at the smallest stakes of real money should play a little better than most play money players. I'll give you a little advice about bankroll management later. If you don't manage the money you've deposited properly, you might end up losing all of it.
The poker sites want you to play with real money. I think that one of their main reasons for hosting play money games is to recruit players to play for real money. Some sites will try to convince you that you should deposit real money at once. If you don't want to play with real money just yet, you can usually ignore this.
One time I got an account at a site, and a support guy started telling about all the offers they had if I deposited real cash there. I just told him that I was there for the play money, and he quickly lost the interest and left me alone. If you decide that you want to deposit money later, the support team will probably be eager to assist you anyway.
In the next couple of articles I will give you some strategy that should make you a winning player in most play money games.
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